The life of Lex Luthor would forever be changed in October, 1989. Then nine years old, Lex had traveled with his father on a business trip to Smallville, Kansas. During their visit, the town was struck by the largest meteor shower in history. Lex himself was in the field, where the first meteorite hit. When his father found him, Lex had lost all of his hair.[2] Following that day, his asthma was gone and he never got sick.[4]

About five days later, Lex had fully recovered and was playing in Luthor Mansion, where he came across and played with a strange boy. The boy was shortly afterwards removed from the mansion.[5]

Lex's childhood was an unhappy one. Other children shunned him and his father believed Lex to be responsible for the death of Julian, his infant brother. Not long after his brother's death, Lex suffered a psychic episode at his boarding school, where he sat in the rain and believed himself to be holding his brother.[6]

As a student at Excelsior Academy, Lex was reunited with Oliver Queen, but even his childhood friend bullied Lex. Lex did make one friend: Duncan Allenmeyer, a kid attending the school on a scholarship. However, their friendship ended in tragedy, when the two witnessed Oliver and his friends steal the results for a test. Duncan wanted to tell the principal, but Lex saw a chance to use this information against Oliver. When Duncan refused to go along with Lex's plan, Lex became violent and beat him. Oliver and his friends had to pull Lex off Duncan, who stepped infront of a car and was seemingly killed.[7]

By 1999, Lex had returned to Metropolis and befriended Amanda Rothman, who was engaged to Jude Royce. Having discovered that Amanda's fiancé, was cheating on her, Lex arranged for Amanda to catch him in the act at Club Zero. An enraged Jude attacked Lex with a knife, causing Amanda to shoot Jude with a bouncer's gun. Wanting to protect Amanda, Lex told Sam Phelan (a corrupt cop, who would clean up messes for Lionel) that it was he who shot Jude.[8]

Season One

In the fall of 2001, Lionel sent Lex to Smallville, to head the local LuthorCorp plant. On his first day in town, Lex got into a car accident with local teen, Clark Kent. According to Clark, Lex ran his car off a bridge and Clark had jumped in and saved him, but Lex was convinced that he had hit Clark with the car. This was the beginning of an obsession, that Lex would have for years. A conviction that there was something strange about Clark Kent.[2]

Lex bought Clark a truck to thank him, for saving his life, but Clark returned it.[2] However, the next few months, Lex would strike up a friendship with the young boy but couldn't let go off the idea that there was something mysterious about Clark.[9] Lex also became envious of the love Clark received from his parents.[10][11]

Not long after, Lex was reunited with his old nanny, Pamela Jenkins, whom he learned was dying.[13] Before she died, she revealed to Lex, that he had a half-sister.[14]

When Lionel announced that he was shutting down the Smallville plant, Lex joined forces with the employees and organized an employee buyout, where he set up his own corporation: LexCorp.[15]

Season Two

During the summer of 2002, Lex met Desirée Atkins, a metahuman who used her power to make Lex fall in love with her. After the summer, they got married and Desirée tried to kill him. However, Lex managed to survive and had an annulment.[16]

Lex's life would only get more complicated. First his father, who had recently become blind, moved into the mansion.[17] Then Rachel Dunleavy arrived in town and revealed that Lex had a half-brother. Convinced that said brother was Clark, Rachel took Lex hostage and tried to kill him.[18]

Lex would later loose his company to LuthorCorp.[19] After that, he tracked down his real half-brother, Lucas, and devised a plan that revealed that Lionel had recovered his eyesight and ensured Lex's position within the family company. After that, Lex sent his brother away.[20]

Not long after, Lex became engaged and married Helen Bryce. However, on their honeymoon, Lex found himself alone on a private plane and crashing into the ocean.[21]

Season Three

For the next three months, Lex was stuck on a deserted island, alongside another man named Lewis. Lewis eventually tried to attack Lex, but he fought back. It wasn't until then that Lex realized that Lewis wasn't real, but a figment of his imagination. Afterwards, he was found by a boat and rescued. Upon his return, he confronted Helen, who fled and disappeared. Lex also helped the Kents save their farm.[22][23]

Not long after, Lex began to uncover a dark secret about his father: that Lionel had murdered his parents.[24] Lex attempted to expose his father, but was drugged, causing people to think that Lex was insane. Lex was taken to Belle Reve, but before that he had seen Clark use his powers and now knew his secret.[25] Lionel arranged for Lex to have a treatment, that erased weeks of his memories. This robbed Lex of both the knowledge about Lionel's crimes and Clark's secret.[26] Lex would later attempt to regain the memories of those weeks but fail.[6]

Lex would later get into trouble with the law when he became suspected of the murders at Metron Pharmaceuticals. However, Lex managed to strike a deal with the FBI, giving him immunity, while the FBI would get Lionel Luthor.[27] With the help of testimony from Chloe Sullivan, Lex finally managed to get his father behind bars.[28]

Season Four

Not long after Lionel's arrest, Lex developed a new obsession. He began a global search for three stones, that were said to possess great power. He found one in Egypt, but the stone was stolen from his private jet, mid flight.[29]

However, he hadn't forgotten his past obsession with meteor rocks and people with abilities. Because of this, he had set up Project 33,1 as a means to study metahumans.[30] An experiment with meteor rocks caused Lex to split into two: one good, one evil. The evil one trapped the good Lex in the basement and even managed to uncover the secret of Clark. The two were ultimately merged by Clark, with him having no memory of Clark's secret.[31]

Still on the look for the stones, Lex almost got his hands on two of them: one in the possession of Lana and the other in the possession of Lionel. However, Lana had gotten rid of her stone (what he didn't know was that she had given it to Clark). Lionel was put into a strange coma by his, which Lex tried to put in his vault. However, it vanished minutes later. With Lex finding the door to his vault ripped open and Chloe standing there.[32]

Smallville was about to be hit by a second meteor shower, but Lex was too angry to care. Enraged, he took Chloe to the Kawatche Caves, where the two witnessed a bright light and Lex was knocked out.[32]

Season Five

Upon waking up, he found that Chloe was gone and he was confronted by Aethyr and Nam-Ek. But the two lost interest in him, when they discovered that he wasn't Kal-El and left. Driving back to the mansion, Lex found a shocked and injured Lana, talking about their spaceship. In secret, Lex had the ship moved to a LuthorCorp facility.[33]

On Christmas Eve, Lex was shot and nearly died. A vision of his late mother appeared to him and showed him what his future could be, if he'd choose a different path. However, upon recovering, Lex rejected this vision and decided to run for state senate.[34] He would ultimately loose the election, with Jonathan Kent being elected.[35]

After Clark and Lana Lang broke up, Lex began to develop a romantic relationship with her.[36] However, this interest in Lana might've been an extension of his obsession with Clark Kent.[37]

His interest in the spaceship lead to Lex entering a partnership with government agent Milton Fine. Little did Lex know, that Fine was a humanoid avatar of the ship itself.[38]

Fine would later abduct Lex and grant him Kryptonian powers. This was all part of Fine's plan to get Clark to release General Zod from the Phantom Zone. When Clark fell into Fine's trap, Lex's body was taken over by Zod.[39]

Season Six

After Zod was expelled from Lex's body, Lex didn't retain any of the memories of his time as having had Kryptonian powers.[40][41]

Lex's relationship with Lana continued. Convincing Lana that she was pregnant, Lex managed to manipulate her into marrying him.[42][43] However, he soon arranged for her to have a "miscarriage".[44]

Lex also continued with his 33,1 experiments and planned to create super soldiers.[45] His lead to Lex having confrontations with a group, led by the vigilante known as "Green Arrow", who shut down many of his facilities.[46]

After Lana discovered the truth about what Lex had done, she left him and was seemingly killed by a bomb. Lex was arrested for her murder.[47]

Season Seven

Lex never made it to the police station for Lana's murder. Right after he was arrested, a nearby dam broke and Lex found himself trapped in a police car, underwater. But, he was saved by a mysterious blond woman, with superhuman abilities.[48] When Clark's cousin, Kara, came to Smallville, Lex was convinced that this was the same woman, who had saved him.[49]

Lex was taken into custody for Lana's murder, but was soon released. He managed to track down Lana, still alive, in China and brought her back to the States.[50] Afterwards, the two got a divorce.[37]

After getting shot in the head, Lex began to remember suppressed memories from his childhood about "Veritas".[1] This lead to a new obsession to find this mysterious "Traveler", that the group had waited for. Lex had Patricia Swann killed, to acquire a key in her possession.[51] He also killed Lionel, to acquire a matching key, that was in his possession.[52] With the two keys, Lex managed to get his hands on a cryptograph, that was kept in a safety deposit box in Zurich.[53]

Thanks to the cryptograph, Lex managed to acquire an Orb, that was said to allow him to control the Traveler.[54] The Orb pointed him to a location in the Arctic, where he found a large fortress. Placing the Orb on a panel, he managed to summon the Traveler, who turned out the be Clark. The two had a brief confrontation, before the entire fortress collapsed around them.[55]

Season Eight

Lex managed to survive the collapse of the fortress but found himself in critical condition and went underground. When Tess Mercer declared him dead and announced a corporate merger with Queen Industries, Lex hired the services of Winslow Schott to kill both her and Oliver Queen. He also forced Lana (who had recently gained a superpowered nanite suit) to absorb a huge dose of Kryptonite radiation. Making it impossible for Clark to ever be around her again. However, Lex was seemingly killed in an explosion by Oliver.[56]

Season Ten

The exact details remain unknown, but Lex managed to survive the attempt on his life. Believed to be dead, he retreated to Cadmus Labs and had numerous clones of himself created. Supplying him with perfect donors, to repair his damaged body. However, the final piece of his new body, his heart, came from an unexpected source: a version of his father from Earth-2. With his new heart implanted, Lex made his way to LuthorCorp Plaza, where he confronted Tess and stabbed her. However, with her last strength, Tess exposed him to a neurotoxin, that would paralyze all cognitive recognition. Making it impossible for Lex to remember anything prior to this moment. Robbing him of the knowledge of Clark's secret.[14]

Season Eleven

The neurotoxin had interfered with his memories, but it didn't change Lex or remove the darkness within him. Within the next six months, Lex had regained full control of LuthorCorp, having undone the merger with Queen Industries, and renamed LuthorCorp renamed "LexCorp".[57] He also managed to recover a remarkable amount of what Tess had stolen from him, by cobbling together existing media.[58]

While not remembering his identity or his history with him, Lex came to regard Superman as a possible threat, as Superman had pushed a planet out of orbit. Showing him to possess great power, that could prove a threat to the world. Due to the event known as "Contact", Lex worked with General Sam Lane to push through the approval of the LexCorp Guardian orbital weapons platforms.[57] However, due to an interest to keep an eye on Superman, Lex had the space shuttle for the platforms sabotaged. When Superman appeared to save the crew, he was bombarded with radiation, that Lex could track via satellite. Preventing Clark from assuming his secret identity.[59] Eventually, Superman's body was purged of the radiation. Making it no longer possible for Lex to track him.[60]

Superman wasn't the only problem that Lex came to face. Six months after her death, Tess began to appear in front of him. Lex soon discovered that the neurotoxin that Tess had used on him, had caused the creation of a psychic link between the two siblings. Transferring her consciousness from her own body into Lex's brain.[59] Lex had to fight Tess over control of their now shared body, but he also had to fight her, to make her reveal who Superman really is.[61][58] But, before Lex could succeed, her consciousness was extracted from his body and placed in a computer.[60]

Not long after, Lex was drawn into a mystery of a spaceship, that had landed near Smallville. Learning that the ship had been taken to S.T.A.R. Labs, Lex ordered his men to attack the facility. But, the attack was foiled by Tess. However, the incident lead to Lex learning about Earth-2.[62]

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Future

Little is known about the life of Lex Luthor after 2012.

In 2013, Lex announced his intent to run for President of the United States and was elected in 2018.[63][14] Lex continued to be the ultimate opponent to Superman. However, in the end, the Man of Steel triumphed over him.[64]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Former Powers

After Brainiac had prepared Lex to become the vessel of Zod, Lex were granted Kryptonian powers. These vanished after Zod's phantom was expelled from his body.

Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Lex possesses the same potential powers as an average Kryptonian. These include:

Solar Energy Absorption: Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of Lex's super powers as they are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system. His biological make up includes a number of organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. It is believed that between one or more of these and his bio-cellular matrix, "yellow" solar energy is stored for later use. This allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available instead of immediate failure.

Heat Vision: Lex can, as a conscious act, fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it. He can vary the heat and area affected.

Super-Hearing: Lex's hearing is sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, he can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency.

Enhanced Vision Lex's vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus.This umbrella ability includes the following:

Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision: Lex can see well into most of the electromagnetic spectrum. He can see and identify radio and television signals as well as all other broadcast or transmitted frequencies. Using this ability, he can avoid detection by radar or satellite monitoring methods. This also allows him to see the aura generated by living thing.

Telescopic Vision: This is the ability to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics. Though limited, the exact extent of the ability is undetermined. In function, it is similar to the zoom lens on a camera.

X-Ray Vision: This is the ability to see through any volume of matter except lead. Lexs can see things behind a solid, opaque object as if it were not there. He can focus this ability to "peel back" layers of an object, allowing hidden image or inner workings to be observed. The exact type of energy perceived - such as x-rays, cosmic rays, or some other energy invisible to normal humans - is unclear. This ability perceives an ambient energy source though, it does not involve the eye projecting a concentrated, possibly toxic, beam to be reflected back from objects.

Microscopic Vision: This is the ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level.

Infrared Vision: Lex can see with better acuity in darkness, and to a degree in total darkness.

Flight: Lex is able to manipulate graviton particles to defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This ranges from hovering to moving in any posture, in any direction.

Invulnerability: Due to the interaction of his dense molecular structure and supercharged bio-electric aura, Lex is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. In addition, his extends this protection against toxins and diseases.

Superhuman Stamina: Lex is able to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an indefinite period of time. This based on his body converting yellow solar radiation directly to energy, but is limited by physiological and psychological needs to eat, drink, and sleep.

Superhuman Strength: Lex's strength is augmented by yellow solar radiation interacting with the greater than human density, resilience and biological efficiency of his musculature. His strength is more an act of conscious will on energy fields than actual physical strength. It is this act of conscious will that enables him to perform physical feats that are beyond the mere application force, such as moving a mountain top without said rock crumbling under its own mass.

Superhuman Speed: Lex is able to move at incredible speed by sheer force of will. This extends to his perceptions and allows for feats such as catching bullets in mid flight as well as covering vast distances in little or no time.This also confers:

Super-Breath: Lex is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from his lungs. He can chill the air as it leaves his lungs to freeze targets. He can also reverse the process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into his lungs.

Psychic Link: (formerly) After Lex had fatally stabbed her, Tess Mercer exposed Lex to a neurotoxin. A side effect of the neurotoxin caused Lex and Tess to develop a psychic link for the apparent last few moments of her life.[65]

Abilities

Business Management: Lex Luthor is a master strategist and is expertly proficient in all fields relating to business management. Lex is more than willing to result to cutthroat and even illegal means to satisfy his objectives, including bribery, blackmail and extortion.

Charisma: Lex spent a long time developing a "silver-tongue", mostly to earn the trust and respect of those around him. The Luthor name has earned an unsavory reputation in the town of Smallville and Lex has devoted a lot of energy towards reconciling relationships thrown into disarray due to the actions of his father. In later years, Lex's demeanor darkened and he spent less time trying to earn the trust of those around him.

Fencing: Lex is quite proficient in the art of fencing, though he is by no means an expert. He has trained with a professional and often sparred against his own father, who has proven himself to be more skillful with a fencing blade than his son.

This character is or was primarily an enemy of Superman in any of his various incarnations, or members of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Villains category."

This character is or was primarily an enemy of the Justice League, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Justice League Villains."